3, 2, 1...Married!

by Sharon Sala

  She rolled over on her side, hugging a pillow to her breasts. The urge to close her eyes and sleep in was strong, then she thought of Jake Miracle. It was enough to get her out of bed and digging through clothes for something to wear.

  Day one of her stay was just beginning.

  “Hey, Luke, where are you going?” Jake asked.

  Luke paused at the doorway to the office, his hat in his hand, and looked back at his brother behind the desk.

  “To meet Hallie O’Grady. I promised her a riding lesson.”

  “That’s Dobber’s business. You promised me day before yesterday that you’d go into Cold Water and get a load of feed,” Jake said shortly, then slipped an invoice into a file.

  “But I—”

  Jake never batted an eye. “Business first, Luke. Business first.”

  Luke sighed. “Yeah, okay,” he muttered. “I’ll just go tell Hallie I can’t—”

  “We don’t disappoint our guests,’ Jake said. “I’ll find Dobber and have him do it. Where are you supposed to meet her?”

  “At the corrals. She wanted to go on the trail ride, but I told her it would be better if she knew how to ride a little before she spent the day on a horse. Besides, the rides go out every other day. I promised her she wouldn’t miss anything.”

  “Just go get the feed and quit worrying about who’s going to teach your latest honey how to sit a horse,” Jake snapped.

  Luke stared. The anger in his brother’s voice was unexpected. He began to grin. The longer he stood there, the wider it became.

  “You think she’s pretty, don’t you?”

  Jake glared.

  “You’re attracted to her, aren’t you?”

  Jake didn’t answer. He’d never been good at lying.

  Luke laughed and slapped his hat firmly on his head. “I never thought I’d see the day. Last night we suspected you were interested… Hot damn, wait until I tell John we were right—”

  “Don’t you have some place to be?” Jake snapped.

  “Yeah,” Luke drawled. “And so do you. Don’t keep Hallie waiting, okay?”

  Jake reached for his hat and stalked past Luke without answering. His brother’s chuckles were ringing in his ears as he strode off the porch. Besides, Luke didn’t know what the hell he was talking about. Attracted was hardly the word.

  From her perch on a nearby fence, Hallie watched the group mounting up for the trail ride, then waved to a young couple she’d met over breakfast. A twinge of envy dug deep as she watched them laughing at each other’s antics. As far as she knew, she was the only single guest at the ranch and she was beginning to feel out of place. Not that she wasn’t having a great time, but still…

  “Miss O’Grady.”

  Hallie jumped, her seat on the rail suddenly unsure as she teetered for balance. Suddenly, a hand centered on her back while another grabbed her arm. She looked down. Jake Miracle was looking up at her.

  “I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said.

  Hallie thought she smiled. She knew she was trying.

  “It’s okay. I was just lost in thought and didn’t hear you come up.”

  Jake had to remind himself why he’d come.

  “My brother wanted me to tell you that he’s sorry he couldn’t make the riding lesson. He’s on his way into town to bring back a load of feed.”

  Hallie’s hopes fell. If she didn’t learn how to sit a horse, she wouldn’t be able to go on the trail ride.

  “That’s okay,” she said. “I’ll find something else to do.”

  She started to jump down when Jake suddenly stepped in front of her and grabbed her by the waist with both hands.

  Instinctively, she grabbed his shoulders, bracing herself to keep from falling, then looked down—straight into a pair of the bluest eyes she’d ever seen—and forgot what she’d been going to say next.

  Jake found himself caught in a dark, endless gaze and going down for the last time when a horse nickered nearby. He blinked, realized what he’d been thinking, and mentally took a step back.

  “Let me help you down,” he said, and lifted her from the rail as if she was a child. The moment her feet were on firm ground, he set her free and turned around. “If you’ll follow me, I’ll introduce you to Dobber. He’s been with the family for years and knows as much about horses as anyone you’ll ever meet.”

  “I don’t want to be a bother,” Hallie said.

  Jake paused, then turned. “Nothing is a bother for our guests.”

  Hallie felt as if she’d been kicked in the stomach. The reminder that she was nothing more than a paying customer hit hard. At that moment, she realized what she’d been thinking. She blamed herself—and her sisters—for letting all this nonsense go to her head. In spite of the fact that she felt like crawling in a hole, she made herself smile.

  “Why, thank you,” she said, and folded her hands in front of her like a perfect child.

  The mental wall that sprang up between them was impossible for Jake to ignore. He didn’t know what had happened, but he felt it, just the same.

  “You can thank me tomorrow, if you still feel like walking,” he said, and pivoted, resuming his trek toward the stable.

  Hallie frowned as she hurried to catch up. Jake Miracle was a strange man. He went from hot to cold faster than she could keep up.

  A short while later, she was making fast friends with a mare named Sugarfoot, while Joe Dobbs, the wrangler, was teaching her the fundamentals of mounting a horse. He gave Hallie an instruction to mount, and then had to grab her arm before she wound up under the horse instead.

  “No, ma’am, don’t never get up on that side of a horse,” Dobber said, and guided Hallie to the other side of Sugarfoot.

  “Why?” she asked.

  He shoved his hat to the back of his head, scratching at the sparse growth of hair beneath.

  “Well, just because,” he muttered, and then he squinted against the sun, his expression drawn and serious. “If you was drivin’ a car, would you get in on the side without a steerin’ wheel?”

  Hallie paused. The image made her smile.

  “No.”

  “All right, then,” Dobber said. “There’s your reason.”

  Hallie grinned as she climbed into the saddle.

  Joe Dobbs’s analogy didn’t really hold water, but he was too endearing to argue with.

  “Now then,” he said. “You just hold on to that pommel. I’m gonna lead you around the arena a bit until you get the feel of the saddle.”

  “What’s a pommel?” Hallie asked.

  Dobber grinned and pointed. “That thing you’re holdin’ on to.”

  “Oh.”

  “All right now, little lady. You just hang on. Let yourself feel the rhythm of the horse and as they say, go with the flow.”

  They started to move, and Hallie clenched the pommel with both hands, resisting the urge to lean forward and wrap her arms around Sugarfoot’s neck. But the longer she rode, the more comfortable she became. When Dobber glanced back to see how she was faring, she grinned and dared a wave.

  He grinned back.

  A few minutes later, he handed her the reins, with a few terse instructions about how to turn a horse from right to left and how to make it stop. Hallie was stunned to learn it wasn’t the word whoa that did the trick. It was the tug on the reins and the pressure of a bit inside the horse’s mouth.

  “Won’t it hurt her?” Hallie asked.

  Dobber shook his head. “Nah. Their mouths are pretty tough. ’Sides, that’s the point. You pull on the reins. She don’t like the pressure. She stops walkin’ so you’ll stop pullin’, get it?”

  Hallie laughed. “Got it.”

  “All righty, then. You have a go at it by yourself, and don’t panic none. The corral is round, so Sugarfoot ain’t goin’ nowhere and I won’t be far.”

  The world looked different from the back of a horse. Hallie nodded, then took the reins with the confidence of a woman who’d been riding for years
and nudged the horse’s flanks as she’d been taught. Sure enough, Sugarfoot started to walk.

  Hallie laughed aloud.

  Jake was coming out of the tack room with a handful of bridles in need of repair when he heard the sound of her laughter again. He stopped in mid-step, searching the area. Then he saw her in the corral on the back of old Sugarfoot and smiled. For a tenderfoot, she sat a horse real fine. Her back was straight, her legs gripping the sides of the horse’s belly as old Dobber had told her to do. The reins were loose in her hands and she was riding the horse’s rhythm almost perfectly.

  A natural.

  He wondered if loving came as easily to her and then took a deep, shuddering breath.

  Where the hell had that come from? The woman was here for two weeks and then she would leave, just like the other paying guests. Jake didn’t mind his brothers flirting with the single ladies. In fact, he knew some came expecting it. But he drew the line at casual, recreational sex. Besides the fact that it wasn’t his cup of tea, he didn’t want the guest ranch getting the wrong kind of reputation. So then, why did he fantasize about kissing her—and taking her clothes off that dynamite body?

  Slowly.

  One button, one item, at a time.

  He shuddered, then stood in the drive with the bridles trailing in the dust, staring at the dark-haired rider while his stomach tied itself in knots.

  On the fourth day of Hallie’s vacation, she was up at dawn and although it was more than an hour before breakfast, she was already dressed. She was wearing a pair of form-fitting jeans, a long-sleeved shirt and light jacket, and her new, but very dusty, brown cowboy boots. Excited about the ensuing trail ride, she bolted out of the cabin, heading toward the stables to tell Sugarfoot hello.

  The day was cool, but the air held a promise of later warmth. Dust poofed on the toes of her boots as she ran, eager to feed her horse the bits of apple she’d saved from last night’s supper.

  A wrangler was coming out of a stall with an empty bucket as she rounded the door.

  “Mornin’ ma’am,” he said softly, and tipped his hat. “Somethin’ I can do for you?”

  Hallie gave him a tentative smile. “Um, I was just going to see Sugarfoot…if it’s okay.”

  He grinned. “Third stall down on your right,” he offered.

  Hallie started on past.

  “You be real careful when you feed her,” he said. “She has a tendency to take fingers along with her treat.”

  Hallie flushed. So, her early-morning trips weren’t so secret after all.

  “Is it okay…to feed her, I mean?”

  The wrangler smiled and his eyes disappeared in the wrinkles.

  “I reckon so. A little treat never hurt anyone now and then.”

  A horse nickered behind her. She spun around. Sugarfoot was poking her head over the stall door.

  “Well, good morning to you, too,” Hallie said, and started digging in her jacket pocket for the apple she’d cut up.

  Moments later, she and the horse were head to head, passing the time with a little fruit and a little love. She couldn’t remember ever feeling so satisfied with herself or with the world.

  Jake came around the corner of the stables with a cup of coffee in one hand and a biscuit in the other. Today was Stenson’s day off, which meant Jake would be taking the riders to the line camp for the picnic lunch. His mind was on the trail ride and the equipment they would need until he heard the sound of a woman’s voice. He looked up and then stopped.

  It was Hallie. She had her arms around a horse’s neck and her cheek against its forehead. The communion of woman to animal was stunning. For a second, he wished he could trade places with that horse, and then frowned and took a big bite of his biscuit. He was going to have to find a way to get over fantasizing about a woman who was just passing through his life. For all he knew, she could be married. At the least, she was bound to be in a serious relationship. No one who looked like that could be free.

  He chewed angrily, washing the bite down with a sip of coffee, then took a deep breath and started toward her.

  “Morning, Miss O’Grady. You’re up early.”

  Hallie spun. Even though his silhouette was all she could see, she knew him by the swagger in his walk and the tilt of his hat. Her heart skipped a beat.

  “I uh…I mean the horse…”

  “You’ve taken quite a shine to Sugarfoot, I see.”

  Hallie relaxed and turned back to the horse, running her hand up the blaze on Sugarfoot’s head.

  “Yes. She’s wonderful,” Hallie said softly.

  The tenderness in her voice, as well as her touch, cut the ground from under his feet. Look at me, Hallie O’Grady. Touch me like you’re touching that horse and I’ll show you wonderful.

  Hallie was still smiling as she looked up.

  Jake groaned beneath his breath.

  “So, you’re from California, right?”

  She nodded.

  “It’s a long way to come by yourself to have fun,” he said.

  She gave him a considering look, then answered. “It was a birthday present.”

  “From your husband?” he asked.

  “I’m not married.”

  “Boyfriend?”

  She leaned against the wall of the stable and stuffed her hands in her pockets so he wouldn’t see them shaking.

  “Not one of those, either. The trip was a present from my sisters.”

  He nodded and took another bite of biscuit to keep from saying something stupid—like hallelujah.

  Hallie sighed. Her initial excitement about his questions was tapering off. What’s wrong with you, she thought. He isn’t interested. He’s just being polite, which in spite of her disappointment, didn’t surprise her. The men she liked weren’t usually attracted to her. Why should this one be any different?

  “That biscuit looks good,” she finally said. “I suppose I’d better head for the dining room to breakfast. I don’t want to be late for the trail ride.”

  Jake stifled another groan. He hadn’t seen the sign-up sheet for the trail ride, although he should have suspected she would be going. She’d taken to her riding lessons with a diligence his father would have been proud of.

  “Think you’re up for the ride?” he asked.

  Hallie nodded. “Oh, yes,” she said. “Dobber says I’m a natural.”

  Jake knew he was staring. “I’ll just bet you are,” he muttered beneath his breath.

  “What did you say?” Hallie asked.

  He blinked. “Uh…I said, we’re not going far.”

  She grinned and nodded. “Yes, I know. That’s why I signed up for this ride, rather than the overnight one. I figure half a day on horseback is enough for a start.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Please call me Hallie.”

  His voice was quiet, just above a whisper as he repeated her name.

  “Hallie,” he said, then exhaled softly, watching as she gave Sugarfoot one last pat.

  “I’ll see you soon,” Hallie said, and smiled as she moved past him.

  “Yeah, soon,” he muttered, turning to watch as she hurried toward the mess hall.

  He watched until she was completely out of sight, then looked down at his hand in disbelief. The biscuit he’d been eating was crushed between his fingers. He opened his hand, letting the crumbs fall into the dirt.

  “I’ve got to get a grip,” he admitted to himself, then downed the last of his coffee and headed for the tack room to get ready for the ride.

  Chapter 3

  The day was clear and cool. Earlier, gentle digs about saddle sores and greenhorns had been rampant. Just into their second hour in the saddle, the riders’ excitement was beginning to dim.

  But not Hallie’s. Sugarfoot had a smooth, steady gait, and nothing could quell her delight. She kept wishing she’d brought a tape recorder along to record her impressions of the country through which they were riding so she could use them in her stories. But she hadn’t, and so s
he tried to capture it all in her memory, from the scent of sage and the ever present mesquite, to the smell of the horses and the creak of saddle leather, even the way dust tasted on her lips.

  A swift gust of wind shifted the hat she was wearing and she grabbed at the brim, pulling it down a little bit tighter. Every now and then the sound of Jake Miracle’s voice would drift back to her from where she rode, and she would listen to the deep, steady nuances of his speech. The calm reassurance in his voice and the gentle praise and coaxing he gave the timid riders who were with him was almost hypnotic. More than once, she would blink to realize she had no idea of the scenery they’d been passing. Reminding herself that this trip wouldn’t last forever, she made herself focus.

  She rode next to the last in the group of twelve. Not because she couldn’t keep up, but because she was, by nature, an observer. And it was because of her proximity that she noticed the woman just ahead of her seem to be in pain. Although Hallie had seen her around the ranch with her husband, for some reason, he hadn’t come on the ride. But when the woman suddenly doubled over the saddle, Hallie urged Sugarfoot forward.

  “Ma’am, are you all right?” she asked.

  “My name is Cheryl,” she said, and managed a grin. “And, yes, I’m fine.”

  But Hallie didn’t agree. The woman was pale and sweating, her eyes glazed with pain.

  “Are you sure? I could ask Jake to stop and—”

  “No!” Cheryl cried. “I’m fine. I insist.”

  Hallie sighed. “If you say so, but I’m right behind you, okay?”

  She managed a smile and nodded as Hallie dropped back into place.

  Minutes passed, during which time, Hallie’s thoughts shifted to contemplating the width of Jake Miracle’s shoulders. When he suddenly reined up and turned sideways in the saddle, she found herself staring directly at his face. Jake’s gaze shifted subtly as he surveyed the riders behind him, but she knew that she’d been caught. She pulled back on the reins. Thankfully, Sugarfoot stopped.

  “We’re going to take a fifteen-minute rest here,” Jake said, pointing to a small stand of mesquite and an adjoining patch of shade from an overhanging bluff. “Within the next hour, we’ll be moving steadily upward. We should get to the line cabin for lunch just before noon.”